Grassroots effort favors local foods

Chapter work begins; might aid bottom lines of area ag producers

Chapter work begins; might aid bottom lines of area ag producers

August 01, 2008|By Scott Waltman, swaltman@aberdeennews.com

South Dakota ag producers who want to capture a bigger sliver of the money spent on food should soon have a new group to help them. The same group would help consumers who want food that's locally produced. Work has started to create a Buy Fresh Buy Local chapter in South Dakota. Buy Fresh Buy Local is a nationwide program that helps those who grow food create awareness that they're willing to sell it locally. The hope is that improved marketing will lead to increased revenues. South Dakota Specialty Producers is leading the way with the South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension as a partner. A meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5 in the basement of the Brown County Courthouse Annex, 25 Market St., in Aberdeen. South Dakota Specialty Producers is a collection of farmers, wineries, farmer's markets and others that work together to sell their products. Chris Zdorovtsov, a Minnehaha County Extension educator, said those who get involved with the state's Buy Fresh Buy Local group early will help determine its aims. That means everything from defining "local" to designing a logo that consumers will readily identify to determining what region the group will serve. Billene Nemec is coordinator of the Buy Fresh Buy Local group in Nebraska. It started in 2006 with help from the Nebraska Sustainable Ag Society, she said. In Nebraska, the group works to bridge the gap between local producers and local consumers. For example, Nemec said, people can call and request a restaurant or a grocery store that sells Nebraska-grown foods. There's also a program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where students in residence halls are periodically fed meals made from locally produced foods, Nemec said. The Nebraska group is new, but Nemec said it's clear that consumers are interested in where their food comes from. That's good for local producers, she said. Independent grocery stores are especially apt to sell locally grown foods, Nemec said. Farmers and ranchers now get 19 cents of every dollar spent on food, she said. If they could sell directly to consumers, the total would be closer to 90 cents, she said. Zdorovtsov said that regionally, local food sales account for less than 2 percent of overall food sales. Even a modest increase in that number could make a big difference for South Dakota producers, she said. South Dakota's Buy Fresh Buy Local group is being created, in part, with grant money awarded to South Dakota Speciality Producers. Zdorovtsov said hopes are that it will be formally established by December.